A Brief History of the Club.

We started out with 7 Cobra owners gathering at the 1997 Woodward Dream Cruise and have grown to well over 130 members by 2002. At our early beginnings in the summer of 1997 we had no idea as to the real interest of the legendary AC Cobra. Throughout the next year we met up with a good number of Cobra enthusiasts. As we went to more and more cruises and gatherings we were seeing more and more Cobras driving the streets and congregating at local shows. We began to meet many individuals that were starting to build and buy their own. It seemed a lot of people were getting struck by 'snake fever'. We met up with quite a few builders that were having problems with construction for many reasons. We had of course run into several of their problems when we built our own replica in 1996, as I'm sure others had as well. It seemed to make sense to form a group that could help builders and would be builders by consolidating and sharing the tips and techniques that ourselves and others have picked up. Then we could of course mull over what to do with the machines once we have them rolling. Over the past few years we organized countless road trips and events all over the state and in other parts of the country.

The Woodward Dream Cruise became the biggest of these events for car enthusiasts of all kinds, and of course our newly formed club. At the 1998 Woodward Dream Cruise we had 23 Cobras. We met at what would become our annual spot, dubbed the Snake Pit or Cobra Alley, for the massive car show in Birmingham, Michigan on Hazel Street. For a brief time we called the group the Southeast Michigan Cobra Replica Owners Association. After some time we changed the name to Southeast Michigan Cobra Motorsports Association to include would-be builders and enthusiasts as well. The name stuck for another two and a half years.

We grew from the 23 cobras at the WWDC in '98 to 43 the next year. By 2001 we had an attendance of nearly 70 Cobras at our spot. Up until this point the club had been held together by the tireless efforts of Karen and myself. We had planned dozens and dozens of cruises and organized our end of the WWDC every year via postal and email to keep the club up and running.

In April of 2001, with the help of other Cobra owners, we formed what is now known as the Great Lakes Cobra Club. The next year in 2002 we brought together 87 Cobras at the Snake Pit on Hazel Street. By this time we had members coming from not only all over Michigan, but also in parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Hence the move to disassociate the club with Michigan and include these other states in the Great Lakes region.

We now hold regular monthly meetings with an average showing of 30-40 members. For the year of 2002 we had over 130 dues paying members. If you have a Cobra replica or original, or are just interested in these amazing street machines, we encourage you to come to one of our meetings or events and see what we're all about. We schedule many cruises and gatherings - just check our calendar section and stop by. If you would like to join up right now, click on Join Us or Contact Us for more information.

Thank you for visiting our site, and happy motoring.

Terry and Karen Anway
Founding Members